Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Playgrounds

[Fred H Olson WB0YQM (fholson]

Shava SHAVA [at] NETWORK-SERVICES.UOREGON.EDU S: SHAVA [at] PHLOEM.UOREGON.EDU
is the author of the message below but due
to a listserv problem it was posted by the COHOUSING-L sysop (Fred).

Fred's note: This message was rejected on 8/5/95. While doing some
checking I discovered that I had not forwarded it to the list (as best 
as I can tell).  If you send a message to the list and after a few days
it has not shown up, write me.  Fred

****************  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS *********************

Jerry sez:
> c> general statement that playgrounds are
> c> useless should NOT be drawn from this study. 

I agree.  Eugene has the most wonderful playground I ever saw, at
Amazon Park.  It's a staple of our week, and we see a lot of our 
daycare coop parents/kids there, and have met interesting folks there
who we chat with on an acquaintance level.

I'd be jealous I didn't have it when I was a kid, but I've decided
it's more productive to enjoy the license my kid gives me to enjoy
it as an adult! ;)

Harry sez:
> What can I say?  All the studies I saw at the time said the same thing.
> Nanine Clay did similar studies in the USA using still photography and got
> the same results.
> 
> The obvious questions are :
> - Does your child only go to the playground when you take her?

Yes, in my case, he's 2.5, and not allowed to leave the backyard by
himself, which includes the unfenced front yard.

>  Studies show that young children will only walk a maximum of 75 feet away
> from their home in order to become involved in activities.
> 
Are these all kids living in urban and suburban areas?  It doesn't jive
with the kids I knew grewing up...  I suspect a lot of parents don't
LET their kids go further away than 75 feet away from home now.  People
are so fearful for their kids!

> - What does he or she do the rest of the time for play?

Umm...  Plays with legos and stuffed toys in the morning.  Eats (anyone
with a toddler will understand that's also play).  Small cars.  Lots
of active outdoor play in the backyard at home or playyard at daycare.
Goes to the park with us and the dog.  Books.  Plays with his tape
player.  Dances to music on the radio.  Terrifies the cat (we're working
on it).  Pushes parental boundaries.  Bounces on me and Tyler.  Watches
a video about once or twice a week.

But Joseph just begs us for (and gets) a trip to the playground several
times a week.  It's like the backyard or playyard only much better, and
he knows that -- and it's got equipment that Tyler and I can play on 
*with* him.  At home, he invites me to use his slide, and when I decline
he says, "Too big?  Playgroun' slide fo' big people too?"

> - Do you have a front lawn or garden?

Backyard with garden, little-kid slide, wading pool, hose, and dog, 
small deck, and toy firetruck.  And he helps water the garden and
shitake log and puts weeds in the compost.  Back in NC, he learned to
take weeds from between the paving bricks and compost them.  All play.
Ah for a young back! ;)

> - What does your child play on when at the playground?

First, their 1/2 scale firetruck.  Then the swings.  Then chasing us and
other kids (strangers or kids from daycare) around the elaborate deck-
maze-multislide-crawlthru-jungle-gym-thing.  Then the merry-go-round and
tire swing.  The wading pool's his fave, but he only gets to go there
on Thursdays with his daycare group, since it's usually closed up and
drained by the time we get there.  Oh, also the probably 1:1 scale
abstract dinosaur sculpture.  And watching folks skateboard and play
basketball.  And playing with the water fountain.  Damn, I spend probably
4-5 hours a week there, and *I* have fun.

> - What activity does your child like to do most of all at the playground?

Pool, then firetruck -- which are both social toys.

> - What are the rest of the children doing who are not at the playground?

Huh?

Shava